A few days ago I grasped the chance to hook up with Felix Fuhrmann aka LOFANA. Initially Felix came to Bonn to study geography and musicology, but when he had finished his studies he decided to stay. From that point onwards he has strived to push things forward in our area.

Currently he works as a marketing and promotion manager at the event location “Opernterassen” in Cologne, “but this was only to make a living”, as Felix admits. He tells me he would like to be an event-promoter one day rather than a DJ or producer. I have found this quite peculiar as most people I know are doing it just the other way around: they organise events to promote their own artistic careers. However, I like his view and sympathize with his approach.

When we met in downtown Bonn it was one of the first sunny days in 2011 – brilliant conditions for a talk. While having a chai we were becoming more familiar with each other, talking about electronic dance music, the scene, up & coming as well as local artists, and about artists and tracks we both know popping into our minds. But what I really wanted to know was this: What’s the clue with Bonn, LOFANA, Klubsport Bonn, Electronic Lounge. Wherever I went during the last 4 years people already knew his name. But how are Bonn, LOFANA, Klubsport Bonn, and Electronic Lounge linked?

For a better understanding it might be useful to return to the beginning. Born and raised in Hagen, Westphalia, Felix got in touch with music for the first time at the age of 6 when he was taking piano lessons. Although he has never been particularly fond of this instrument his parents wanted him to study it, thus laying the foundation for his career in the music industry – at least to some extent. At the age of 15 he began studying bassoon, which was – and still is – his first choice instrument. Chances are you will hear some bassoon tones in his tracks – sooner or later.

Nowadays it is next to impossible to live in the Cologne-Bonn-area without noticing the numberless activities of Klubsport Bonn like the Electronic Lounge underground events that take place in several indoor locations in and around Bonn; the open air events at the underground location par excellence, the “Pissrinne”, (German for “piss gutter”), a seedy place whose character comes darn close to the literal meaning of its name – it´s an underground location for an underground party. Felix’s various activities include other Electronic Lounge highlights such as occasional events under the Rhine bridges, Nord- and Südbrücke, which I do not want to pass mentioning.

Not only is Felix a brilliant organiser and a hard-working networker, he also loves DJing and works as producer using the moniker LOFANA. His DJ sets and productions currently concentrate on filthy dubstep and straight minimal techno.

I asked him for a statement about his musical preferences and styles. I had to laugh as he replied: “Everything but ABBA!”

What´s up next? One of his main goals is to widen his network in order to boost his chances of finding like-minded people for future co-operations, even out of town. First steps are done, the summer is not too far away. The line-ups of his parties are getting bigger and bigger every time as are the number of partners in crime. In the pipeline are several projects coming up this year. The first 2011-event takes place @ Pissrinne with a never seen line-up in Bonn on 30/04/2011, 9 p.m. – 6 a.m. Plans for a couple of other open air events under the flag of Electronic Lounge & Klubsport Bonn are ongoing, some budding co-operations are in the planning phase right now.

This means you should keep your eyes peeled and not ignore Bonn if it is underground events and sound what you are looking for. Due to fellas like Felix Fuhrmann Bonn is finally back on the map of electronic dance music.